Question

I’m using simple_form gem on a form, and want to use date fields with three text_fields fields instead of three select fields.

I tried this:

<%= profile_form.simple_fields_for :birthday do |date| %>
  <%= date.input :day, :as => :string, :label => "Dia", :input_html => { :maxlength => 2 } %>
  <%= date.input :month, :as => :string, :label => "Mês", :input_html => { :maxlength => 2 } %>
  <%= date.input :year, :as => :string, :label => "Ano", :input_html => { :maxlength => 4 } %>
<%- end -%>

But that creates three div’s, three labels and it’s a mess.
The ideal scenario was to have one label and three string fields in line.

Any ideas how I can create that custom input?

Answer 1

With the help of the mailing list of the simple_form I finally got it.
The custom input looks like this:

class CustomDateInput < SimpleForm::Inputs::Base
   def input
    "#{@builder.text_field("day", input_html_options)}".html_safe +
    "#{@builder.text_field("month", input_html_options)}".html_safe +
    "#{@builder.text_field("year", input_html_options)}".html_safe
  end

  #Makes the label target the day input
  def label_target
    "day"
  end
end

The day, month and year are virtual attributes that needed to be created.
I’ve added them to a module so that they can be mixed in my models.
The module looks like this:

module Extensions
  module DateFields

    attr_accessor :day, :month, :year

    def fulldate
      Date.parse("#{@day}-#{@month}-#{@year}")
    end
  end
end

Now in my models I can do this:

class Profile < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :user
  before_save :update_birthday

  include Extensions::DateFields

  private
  def update_birthday
    unless fulldate == true || nil?
      self.birthday=fulldate
    end
  end

end